Residents Laud Seamless Vaccination Process in St. Thomas

St. Thomas residents are commending the efficient and hassle-free vaccination services in the parish during the annual observance of Vaccination Week in the Americas.

The initiative, which ran from April 20 to May 2, was organised under the theme: ‘Your Decision Makes A Difference. Immunisation For All’.

It formed part of the wider Disease Elimination Initiative, which aims to accelerate the eradication of more than 30 communicable diseases and related conditions by 2030, including 11 that are vaccine preventable.

The campaign also underscored the importance of vaccination in safeguarding regional health gains and avoiding setbacks such as the loss of measles elimination re-verification in the Americas.

Facilities designated by the South East Regional Health Authority (SERHA) for the initiative included the Morant Bay Health Centre, Paul Bogle Vocational Training Institute, Serge Island, and the St. Thomas Infirmary.

Vaccination services were offered to healthcare workers, funeral home staff and members of the general public at the Morant Bay Health Centre on Thursday (April 30).

Available vaccines included Pentavalent, Influenza, Inactivated Poliovirus Vaccine (IPV), Oral Poliovirus Vaccine (OPV), Hepatitis B, Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR), Human Papillomavirus (HPV), Flu and Diphtheria and Tetanus (DT).

Among those accessing the service was relatives Mellesha and Biante Davids, who opted to visit the health centre after hearing about the free HPV service.

“I was going to go private, but I was told by a friend it’s going to be vaccine week, so I thought I would just come to the health centre and get it done,” Mellesha told JIS News.

She described her experience as positive.

“It’s been good. The person that I spoke to is very helpful. It’s been engaging and it’s been seamless, to be honest,” she added.

Since its launch in 2002, Vaccination Week in the Americas has been a driving force behind immunisation efforts across the region, resulting in more than one billion people being vaccinated against a wide range of diseases.